Government roll out 12 action plan to revive Kerala tourism

The state will organize the Kerala Travel Mart (KTM) from September 27 to 30 with the motive of projecting the destinations among 10,000 buyers and sellers. In order to increase the traveller's footfall, the Kochi-Muziris Biennnale will be used to promote the destination from December to March 2019. 
"Source: The Hindu"

“ The 'Incredible India 2.0' campaign is launched by the government with the view of marking a shift from generic promotions to market-specific promotional plans.”

 
This facility has been extended for the citizens of 165 countries. A 365 days toll-free multilingual tourist helpline has also been introduced. Events like 'Paryatan Parv' (tourism festival), International Buddhist Conclave and International Tourism Mart have been organized in order to promote tourism in India.
Source: "businessstandard"

Rajasthan Government has launched multi-year,  multi-modal, multi-narrative, multi-core global and campaigns to promote its tourism. It aims at enhancing the tourist from 1.5 million to 3.0 million by 2020. It will not only raise the number to foreign tourist but also enhance the domestic viewers from 33 million to 50 million per year.   

Rajasthan Chief Minister, Vasundhara Raje said, “Tourism is the world’s biggest industry and Rajasthan is rich in this industry because it has explore it efficiently. It grants jobs and improves economic status in the state by both direct and indirect means.” She further adds, “the plan of enhancing tourism is associated with basic model of Government such as social justice and job creation.”  Government has also introduced the logo for a year to promote tourism.

Source: "TimesofIndia" 

The overseas offices were started beneath the Ministry of business to position Asian nation as a most popular tourist destination and organize events to extend the country’s share in the global business market.

Arguing that in today's digital world, so many overseas offices were not required, Union Tourism Minister KJ Alphons recently told The Indian Express:
"The plan is to reshape these 14 offices into eight regional hubs for greater efficiency The offices in Toronto and Los Angeles are the first ones to be wound up."

According to sources within the business Ministry, the move follows an indoor survey conducted by the Overseas promoting Division in Delhi virtually a year agone to assess the value of running these overseas offices as compared to the revenues they generate from the individual markets. The study had found that many offices as unprofitable.

"Based on allegations/ complaints/ audit observations, etc, received in the Ministry of Tourism against India Tourism Offices in Beijing, Frankfurt, Johannesburg, London, New York and Toronto, disciplinary proceedings have been initiated in cases where prima facie allegations were found to be substantiated."

Source: Indian Express

Kerala Tourism Facebook page got first position in term of the ranking done by facebook based on total engagement that includes like, share , comments and the reaction given by the tourist between the time frame 1 January and 31 December 2017. Pushing Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Department's Facebook page to the second place with 1.5 million likes to emerge as the top page and Gujrat to third place.

Speaking on the achievement, Rani George, Secretary, Department of Tourism, Kerala, said, "Kerala Tourism has been able to successfully convey the reasons as to why Kerala is a destination that should be on every traveller's itinerary".

P Balakiran, Director, Kerala Tourism said: “Kerala Tourism’s activity on Facebook and other social media space has been focussed and proactive. The page has been able to keep travellers from India and abroad engaged with interesting and innovative posts on the various projects and activities undertaken by the department. The ranking comes at a time when Kerala Tourism has upped the Digital marketing budget to 15% and been communicating to the people across the globe in exciting ways.”
Hearty congratulations to Kerala Tourism Department.

Source: First Post

• Tourism Fiji has announced Ileana D'Cruz the brand ambassador -new Indian face to Fiji!
  
  
• The Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board (MPTB) has reportedly created a land bank with the aim of giving a major boost to tourism in the state.Minister of State for Tourism (Independent Charge) Surendra Patwa has said that “Madhya Pradesh has been segregated into five tourism regions and potential of private investment has been identified - Indore, Jabalpur, Bhopal, Gwalior, Rewa region”.
  
  
• Indian Railways, to promote heritage tourism work on meter-gauge lines. A senior official from the Railway Ministry said regarding this development, "As part of the strategy to preserve the meter-gauge lines, Indian Railways is planning to preserve few meter-gauge lines, which have the potential to attract more tourists."

Source “timesofindia” “business standard”

Navi Mumbai International Airport will handle six crore passengers annually.
Projected to be largest Greenfield airport in India. Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, inaugurated the airport the fourth terminal of Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) in the presence of many big names like Vidyasagar Rao, Governor of Maharashtra; Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister of Maharashtra; Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road, Transport & Highways Shipping and Waterways, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Government of India; P Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Minister of Civil Aviation, Government of India; Dr GVK Reddy, Chairman and Founder, GVK; and other dignitaries.
"Navi Mumbai International Airport will be boon to the CSIA airport in Mumbai which today handles traffic equal to the traffic of entire nation 25 years back and is already saturated in terms of capacity.

Gadkari commented , "Costing INR 8,000 cr, JNPT's fourth terminal will further boost India's trade activities, especially on the international level through seaways. JNPT already contributes 54% of port traffic in the country. This terminal is a boon to Maharashtra and Konkan region as it will also provide employment to 1.25 lakh people in these regions. Further, the government is planning to handle traffic activities for this port through seaways thereby reducing traffic in Navi Mumbai area and be cost effective too. Also, the government is working on developing seaways to connect to Navi Mumbai International Airport from Mumbai."

Modi added that seaway plays a very important role in international trade activities and development of ports like JNPT is a sign that the present government is working towards opening doors of trade for the world and boost country's economy.

Source: travel biz monitor

Government to transform Telangana into a major tourism hub. The state to host ‘Telangana Tourism Conclave 2018’ three-day event in the state.
The tourism secretary B Venkatesham on 19 February said -

“A day would soon come when one can find Telangana State as a major destination in the tourism map,” the government was moving ahead with plans to develop heritage tourism, IT Hub, Pharma hub, medical tourism, adventure tourism he added.

He also talks about “the government plans, to develop the tourist places commercially along the lines of Hong Kong, Singapore, and France. To increase business by attracting foreign tourist.A foreign tourist does not hesitate to spend even Rs one lakh whereas, the domestic tourists spend less”

 ‘Telangana Tourism Conclave 2018’ host by FTAPCCI president G Srinivas said. The event would be organized for three days between June 28 and June 30. Focusing on travel education, travel business development. business to business meetings.

Source: The Hans India

After executing a series of strategies for Kashmir tourism promotion in India, the J&K Government plans to host nearly 700 Indian tourism players to attract more tourists to Kashmir.

The government, in collaboration with the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), will bring tourism agents and aviation players from March 25 to March 29 to the Valley.
Zahoor Qari, chairman of TAAI's J&K chapter, told Kashmir Reader that the main aim is to tell the convention's invitees about the reality of the Kashmir Valley, which is in contrast to the wrong reportage done by Indian national news channels and newspapers.

“Among the delegates, we have players who have never been to Kashmir but have settled for its image as constructed by the Indian media. We want to tell them the reality that Kashmir is not what you see in Indian media,”

Last year, Kashmir Tourism players were left despondent with the state's hitting a palpable low in tourist arrivals. Their main strategy has been to dispel wrong notions of Kashmir in the states of India, a strategy to be adopted by the Government of India's special representative Dineshwar Sharma. As Kashmir always focused on Indian tourists than foreign for tourism growth. In the report it is mentioned the tourism industry players from all across  India will meet in March to host the event.

It is certain that this step will encourage the travelers to explore heaven on earth. It will definitely boost Indian tourism industry.

Source: Kashmir Reader

Ministry of Tourism has announced 2018 as the year of Adventure Tourism.
Jenu Devan, Managing Director and commissioner of Gujarat Tourism, said we are promoting Gujarat in a big way with some upgradation of existing facilities and introduction of new tourism concepts. Report state that, during the discussion the Gujarat Tourism Minister talk about the recently launched ‘Border Tourism’ on December 16 at Nadabet Border in Banas Kantha district,

He Said,  "the response rate toward border tourism is really well hence, we are planning to start the international Buddhist circuit, Dandi heritage zone, and a solar energy village" 

Out of them, 98 percent were domestic tourists and two percent were foreign tourists. He added

The USP lies in the festivals which include the Rann of Kutch jamboree, Navratri, and the kite-flying festival. Attracting a lot of domestic and foreign tourists. Now, we have identified seven big golf courses and documenting our birds to develop niche tourism.
Gujarat Tourism Ministry decided to soon promote International Buddhist circuit, Dandi heritage zone as it will show complete about Mahatma Gandhi presence.

Source: Daily Pioneer

The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, took a great step to promote Indian tourism via India's Luxury Trains keeping in mind the importance of Social Media as an effective tool for destination branding and marketing, is organizing a Social Media Key Influencers' Campaign "The Great Indian Blog Train" involving bloggers and their communities from all across the world, who have been invited to travel in the Luxury Trains operating in different States.

Around 60 Bloggers from 23 countries including India will be traveling on a week-long journey in royal luxury trains, i.e Palace on Wheels, Maharaja Express, Deccan Odyssey and Golden Chariot in groups of 15 Bloggers on each train.

In order to give a boost to the promotion of India's Luxury Trains, Smt. Rashmi Verma, Secretary (Tourism), Suman Billa, Joint Secretary (Tourism) and Meenakshi Sharma, Additional Director General (Tourism), Ministry of Tourism, Government of India and other officials of the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India visited the Safdarjung Railway Station today for an interaction with the domestic and international Bloggers and see them off on their journey on the Palace on Wheels.Really a super step of the Indian government to promote Indian Luxury Trains on social media.



Source: Aninews 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Assam Global Investors’ Summit announces to have the world-class airport terminal in Guwahati. The scheme is set to increase the Assam's connectivity to other areas. The Power schemes worth more than INR 10,000 crore have been initiated in the northeast.

PM Narendra Modi further stated that-
“In the last three years, the government has spent more than INR 5,000 crore on development of railways in the northeast.”
 He added “The construction of 15 new rail lines are underway. Rail connectivity between Tripura and Bangladesh will also be developed,”

Union Minister for the civil aviation P Ashok Gajapathi Raju and the chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal laid the foundation of the new international world-class airport terminal. The project is seen as a major boost to the aviation sector in the northeastern region.

"Transportation and connectivity are the two most important means for economic prosperity. The government of Assam accords top priority to improve communication and wants to engage in the faster development of road, rail, and air linkages as well as internet connectivity," said Sonowal.

source: Travel Biz Monitor

Travel representator Renuka Natu (RNTR) has been appointed as the India representative for Brunni-Bahnen Engelberg AG, a mountain destination in Switzerland.

In an appointment  Renuka Said -
“In the current year, which is our first year for Brunni, we will follow the traditional methods of marketing in the first two quarters i.e. promote and market through tour operators, consolidators, European DMCs and travel agents. In the second half of 2018, we will look at other methods of promotions.”

Renuka plans to promote Brunni - Bahnen Engelberg among the travellers who love to explore and enjoy mountain excursions. It is considered as the sixth product added to the portfolio of RNTR for promotions and marketing in India.

During the discussion when asked to Renuka Nath about the company’s expansion plans she said -
“Our primary efforts through 2018 will be to service the existing accounts in such a manner that we are able to expand our B2B client base in India through personalised training and hand-holding. In 2018, we will focus on strengthening our foothold for the existing portfolio and render the market better prepared for selling these destinations,”

Source-Travel Biz Monitor

Arun Jaitley, Minister of Finance, Government of India would like to convert 10 prominent tourist destinations into iconic and model destinations by adopting a holistic approach to development with private sector support.

Finance Minister announced that they are planning to enhance the tourist experience of 110 monuments which comes under the ASI ( Archaeological Survey of India) under the scheme National  Heritage City Augmentation.

The ministry announces the construction of a tunnel under 'Sela Pass 'in Arunachal Pradesh to improve connectivity and tourism in that northeastern state.
Sela Pass is a high-altitude mountain pass located on the border between Tawang and West Kameng Districts of Arunachal Pradesh, an area China claims to be a part of south Tibet.

He also mentioned about the 14 km long tunnel at the Zoji La Pass is progressing well.Considering the aviation infrastructure, “the government will enhance airport capacity to handle one billion trips a year” he said

“56 un-served airports and 31 un-served helipads have been already activated under the Regional Connectivity scheme of the government and operations have already been started on 16 such places,” he said.

Source: Travel Biz Monitor

Government's Digital India initiative, Minister of State for Tourism and Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, K.J Alphons launched the Incredible India digital calendar in New Delhi on Wednesday.

Along with the digital Calendar, he also launched the Incredible India wall and desk calendar for 2018. The calendar has an application that enables users to know about the events and festivals happening in India on the go. The digital calendar App can be downloaded on Android and iOS platforms.

It contains all the information about the festivals and events happening in the country and will also allow the user to plan their personal events accordingly. It helps the user by notifying the upcoming festivals and events, allow set up of customize reminders for individual events, share the events with friends and contacts, etc.

The calendar contains all exclusive features making it a perfect travel planner on to go. The calendar is designed in such a way that, each day the user will get a different experience, stunning images of different tourist destination from all across India. which can be shared on various social media platforms also. Incredible India Desk calendar 2018 profiles has 12 different kinds of travelers that suggests the great destinations for them.

The theme of the Desk Calendar is designed as "India for Everyone" showcasing India's incredible destinations for travelers.

India and Egypt have a tremendous potential to raise tourism through shared experiences, according to travel experts.

The Maulana Azad Centre for Indian Culture (MACIC) of the Indian Embassy has organized a seminar on 'Sustainable Tourism: New Avenues for Development' with the participation of eminent Indian and Egyptian speakers.

The discussion held last week Thursday focused on sharing experiences from developments in the space of tourism in countries like India and Egypt. Which have the incredible scope and potential to benefit from the tourism sector.In the seminar, the speakers focused on the promoting tourism as both the country has rich civilization.

Elhamy el-Zayat, ex-chairman of the Egyptian Tourism Federation said that social media is an important tool to promote tourism in both countries.

"I always say that we have tools that we didn’t have in the past, which social media. We can always say stories that are interesting for everybody,"

The Speakers also mentioned that one of the finest ways to promote Indian tourism in Egypt is showing more Bollywood movies as they are already gaining more fans in Egypt. Some Indian movies have already been screened on the big screen in the recent period.

Source:moneycontrol

Indian tourism industry focus to Promote rail tourism in the country.  As the Rail department asked its zonal its zonal arms and public sector undertakings to outsource their ticketing and catering works to IRCTC and concentrate on branding.

“In a letter on January 3, Railway Board chairman Ashwani Lohani has asked all zonal railways to promote the brand of rail tourism on select routes.
Lohani has also asked rail PSUs such as Indian Railway Finance Corporation and Ircon International, and zonal railways to give the catering contracts for all events, seminars and programmes held outside rail premises to IRCTC, the railways' catering and tourism arm.”

He has asked them to identify tourist and luxury trains and brand them both on the interior and exterior. He addressed one of the major objectives of the travel community which said that the running schedules of such trains were not made clear. In order to cut down on delays, the board has now entrusted the Director, Coaching as the nodal officer for luxury trains.
The executive can now be directly approached for approval on any scheduling issues, instead of the zonal railways.

Sources say that the board now take initiative to promote rail tourism seriously with state tourism departments.

India to promote tourism growth over 10% growth in six months ending september 2017.
Increased budgetary support for tourism sector and will boost the domestic tourism in india. Where the rising incomes are changing the consumption pattern of millions of Indians.

India is planning to cut taxes on travel and tourism in next month’s federal budget and give more incentives to the $210 billion sector, government sources said,
“hoping to boost economic growth and create more jobs”.

This would definitely boost the domestic tourism and will make India the world's second most populous nation.

 “We’ll announce measures in the budget to promote investment in the tourism sector,” a top finance ministry official told Reuters, adding that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley favours lowering a 28% tax on hotel tariffs, and offering incentives to attract private investments.

CHEAPER FLIGHTS India needs about 200,000 new hotel rooms, Tourism Minister K.J. Alphons told parliament this week.
“We have reached a plateau point and need more resources to create new infrastructure and develop tourist packages,” Alphons later told Reuters, adding there was huge potential in developing areas that were not the usual tourist destinations.Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said “developing tourism, particularly in India’s remote north-eastern states, is one of his top priorities”

ONLINE PLAYERS Tour operator said that the online players will get the double digit hikes. A huge no of foreign visitors visited india last year. The domestic travellers also boot the online player growth.
“The government must lower the tax burden, ease rules and build infrastructure if it wants to ensure 15-20% annual growth in tourism in coming years,” said Sarkar of IATO.

source: livemint